Romney to visit Poland WWII site, meet Lech Walesa

[July 30, 2012]  JERUSALEM (AP) -- U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney heads to Poland on Monday, where he will visit the site of the first shots fired in World War II and pay tribute to the country's anti-communist movement.

Romney plans to meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Gdansk (guh-DANSK) before heading to the Westerplatte memorial, where a German battleship shelled a Polish military outpost in 1939.

Romney also plans to see former Polish President Lech Walesa (lek vah-WEHN'-sah) and visit the famed shipyard where the electrician began an anti-government movement in the 1970s.

Romney is expected to receive a warm reception in the conservative, Catholic country. Last year, when President Barack Obama traveled to Poland, the local press reported that Walesa had refused to meet with Obama.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.